Common Core Forum Tonight In Albany

Another Common Core forum is taking place tonight as parents and community members are invited to attend a gathering at Albany High.

Common Core is a national set of standards that most states, including New York, have adopted, establishing benchmarks for what students should know in math and English by the end of each grade, K through 12.

Critics say the new Common Core curriculum has been too much, too soon. They've been very vocal at several community forums being held across the state. 109th district Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy, a Democrat who hosted a previous forum with Education Commissioner John King, believes the meetings have been helpful.

City School District of Albany Superintendent Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard invites the public to come to Albany High tonight.

The forum, co-sponsored by the Albany City Council PTA and Citizen Action of New York, will be from 7-9 p.m. in the High School auditorium.

Dr. Vanden Wyngaard and district staff will provide an overview of state exams and how the Common Core Learning Standards are changing instruction for students at all grade levels, as well as information about how the tests are used in the new statewide evaluation systems for teachers and principals. A recent Siena poll showed New York voters divided over the Common Core curriculum. One-third of voters think Common Core standards are too demanding, just over one-quarter feel they are not demanding enough and just under one-quarter say standards are "about right." Commissioner King has borne the brunt of criticism, but he maintains that Common Core is working. Assemblywoman Fahy notes that some legislative fixes to Common Core may be on the horizon when the legislature returns to Albany in January.

Parents opposed to the new Common Core standards in schools staged a nationwide protest Monday. Forty-five states adopted the Common Core standards, but only New York and Kentucky began testing in this last school year.

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New York State’s Teacher of the Year testified at a Senate hearing that even she could not receive high marks in her teacher evaluation process, due to what she and others say is the dysfunctional implementation of the new Common Core standards.

Education advocates across New York are calling for a ban on standardized testing in pre-K through second grade.

Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, kicked off a Thursday conference call to launch a statewide petition drive to stop expansion of standardized tests in children’s early years.

The petition comes as the union continues to call for a three-year moratorium on using tests aligned to the rigorous Common Core standards for “high stakes” decisions affecting teachers and students.

New York State Education Commissioner John King Jr. told an audience of parents and teachers the state isn’t going to delay new Common Core learning reforms, but is open to "adjustments" going forward.

King spoke at forum in Albany, his first since an earlier series of planned appearances was cancelled after he was shouted down at a meeting in Poughkeepsie on Oct. 10.

For more than three hours, parents described how frustrated their children were over constant testing and inappropriate curriculum for their age.

At a time when debate over the Common Core is front and center, pro-education groups are out with a new plan offering a roadmap for full-day universal prekindergarten in New York State.

The Center for Children’s Initiatives and the Campaign for Educational Equity have unveiled a statewide plan that offers a financial strategy that recognizes pre-K as an essential educational service, while providing a plan to phase in pre-K to the state's 3- and 4-year-olds over the next eight years.